The Milk Carton Kids
by PJHPcrazysis
Summary: Percy is kidnapped by a psychotic man and is held in his basement for eight years with dozens of other kids. Will he ever see his mom again? If he escapes, is it worth going back to his old life? Rated T for non descriptive abuse and dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hi! This is my first fan fiction story and I'm very excited. Let me know what you think. Review with any suggestions for this story. Just so you know, I don't know the city of Manhattan so I used google maps to get street names. ENJOY! :)**

**Summary: Percy is kidnapped by a psychotic man and is held there for eight years with dozens of other kids. Will he ever see his mom again? If he escapes, is it worth going back to his old life?**

**Disclaimer: All characters, familiar places, and familiar writing belongs to Rick Riordan. Not trying to steal Rick's work here!**

**The Milk Carton Kids**

**Chapter 1: The Last Time**

**Percy POV:**

Look, I never wanted to be just anther milk carton kid. None of us did. Some days, just thinking about it makes me blank out for a few minutes. Other days, I laugh and smile and think about how much my life has improved since 'The Era of the Carton Kids,' that's what we(the milk carton kids) like to call it. Anyways, lets get this over with.

You see, this goes back from my early years to when I was 16. It goes from my 'age of depression' to my 'golden age.' It's not always a happy story, but then again, how can there be a story without dynamics? Without dynamics, I wouldn't be telling you this story because that would mean my life was either always terrible or always wonderful. My life is a twisted version of both.

My name is Percy Jackson and up until a few months ago I was "living" in a basement filled with other kids that had been kidnapped by a psycho guy.

When I was five, my mom married this awful dude, Gabe Ugliano. Like his last name, he was ugly, inside and out. Every Friday, he had his stupid poker buddies over to play stupid poker. He drank beer and got drunk and never let my home feel like my home. The only good thing there was my mom. She is loving and kind and always put up with me and Gabe and his stupid poker buddies. He made her cook and clean and do whatever he asked.

He hated me and I hated him back. He made me give him any extra cash I had so he could use it to bet in poker. Gabe was something I never missed during my time is a milk carton kid. I still have scars from the beer bottles he threw at me. I have a really bad scar behind my left ear that I got the night before . . .Well . . .You'll see.

I was in second grade at the time. When I got home from school that day, I knew it was going to bad night. Gabe's buddies were over and it was only Thursday. They were all drunk, and Gabe was losing his poker game.

"Get in here punk!" Gabe said before I even set my bag down or closed the door. "Got any money?"

"No," I lied and attempted to duck away. I had learned quickly that if you don't have anything Gabe wants, then he'll usually leave you alone. This time, it didn't work.

"Yeah you do. You paid for the bus on the way home from that fancy school that you go to because you got kicked out of all the other ones."

He was right. I'd been kicked out of every school I'd ever attended. I am dyslexic and have ADD. It's not like I tried to get kicked out, it's just that stuff always happened and I was always the kid that got blamed for it.

"Now pay up kid!" Gabe finished.

I grumbled as I fished a wad of fifteen bucks out of my pocket and threw it on the table."I sincerely hope that my fifteen bucks doesn't belong to you at the end of this game."

I quickly turned on my heel and attempted to walk out of the room as fast as I could.

I had barely taken three steps when I heard the scraping of wood on wood and felt a glass beer bottle shatter behind my ear. Pain blossomed out and I felt the warm flow of blood on my neck. Almost immediately, I crumpled to the ground in pain.

"That's what you get for disrespecting your father you pig." Gabe was hovering over me, his beer gut blocking my view of his face.

That was the last thing I saw before everything went black.

I woke up on top of my lumpy mattress with a sense of comfort. I opened my eyes and saw my mom's caramel brown locks dangling in front of my eyes. Her hair disappeared as she leaned back so I could sit up.

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" asked my mom as I sat up and faced her. I reached behind my left ear and felt gauze and medical tape there in place of my usual long, jet black hair.

"Fine. Thanks mom." I replied with a smirk.

"You had me scared there. When I got home from work, I saw you on the ground with blood around you. I'm sorry honey. I need to protect you better."

"No, Mom. It's okay. Besides, it isn't like he's gonna be here forever right?" At this point, I was still convinced that Gabe was just temporary like my schools and my mom's jobs.

My mom's eyes darkened a bit at this. "Yeah! Of course honey. Just try not to anger him too much? I don't want that to happen again. Promise me you'll be nice to him?"

I sighed. "Yeah sure."

"Alright. You have school today. And no you can't skip. I have work. You would be alone with Gabe and I don't think either of us wants that right? Alright lets get you ready for school." She pulled me in for a hug and then kissed the top of my head. She smells like chocolate chip cookies and vanilla. "If anybody asks, you fell down the stairs, OK?"

"Sure mom." She gave me a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, and walked out of my room.

That was the last time I heard or saw my mom for eight years.

After I ate a quick breakfast and headed through the apartment door, my body switched into auto pilot as I walked through the streets of Manhattan. I'd lived here ever since I can remember and knew the streets like the back of my hand. It took me about an hour every day to get to school. My school was a school for upper class kids whose parents didn't feel like dealing with them. Because I was so poor and no other schools would take me, I had gotten a scholarship to the school. Gabe refused to let my mom drive me to school using his car and we couldn't afford the school bus, so everyday I walked and took the bus there.

I was never bothered much with the fact we were poor. The part that bothered me was that Gabe wasted our money and didn't even work himself. Since he and my mom had married, we had moved to a smaller apartment, my mom had picked up a night job along with her day job, and I had become used to pain.

I was a very mature eight year old looking back on it now. I never really goofed around. I guess living with Gabe had hardened me. I didn't pay attention to grades and I could care less about them. School was just a distraction from the real world in my opinion.

I turned left onto 5th avenue and passed the Rockefeller Center. Across the street was the bus stop I always took that was next to the fro-yo shop. If I had extra money from the bus, then I would occasionally stop there and get some after school and finish it on my way home from school.

I never liked the word 'home.' In my opinion, anywhere with Gabe isn't my home. They say that home is wherever the heart is, and my heart is _not_ with Gabe. Looking back now, I would classify myself as homeless back then. I have a home now.

On the bus, I was sitting next to this guy who smelled horrid. He was dressed in a frayed gray sweatshirt with coffee stains on it. He had woolen gloves with the fingers cut off, and his pants were floods, making it obvious that he was missing a sock. He looked so lonely and I was a sympathetic eight year old with nobody to talk to.

"Hi!" I said energetically. He seemed surprised that somebody was actually talking to him. "My name is Percy. What's your name?"

He narrowed his eyes at me and his mouth opened a little bit, revealing his rotting yellow teeth.

"That's okay. You don't have to talk to me. You looked lonely. I just wanted to give you a little company. Here. You can have my leftover money. I'll just walk home today. You need it more than I do." I handed him over my wad of bills. He didn't say anything back, but he took the money. He didn't need to talk for me to understand that he was confused by my generosity and thankful that he would have a dinner that night. He kept the money in his hands, fiddling with it throughout the rest of the bus ride.

If I hadn't given him my money and been forced to walk home that afternoon, then I most likely wouldn't be telling this story. It's funny how one action or one word that you say can chance your fate by _so_ much.

The rest of the ride, I sat in silence. Occasionally I would feel a sharp pain underneath the gauze that caused me to wince. I guess that's what happens if somebody throws a glass bottle at your head.

After about a half hour, the bus pulled up at the stop at W 165th and Broadway. I smiled at the homeless man next to me and walked off of the bus.

From the bus stop, I could always see my school, even though it was still several blocks to the east. It started to drizzle as I crossed over Broadway and approached McKenna Square. My hair quickly became wet. I loved the feel of the cool rain on my skin. It always seemed calm my mind down.

Every day, I dreaded going to school. I had no friends. People would make fun of me because of my grades. They called me Seaweed Brain or Kelp Head because I loved water and the ocean so much. Their comments usually rolled off me like water though. You never know how judgmental second graders are until you're bullied by them.

Even though I usually didn't let them get to me, today this one kid named Nathan was really getting on my nerves. He had red hair and lots of freckles. His two front teeth were missing. He sat behind me in class and was always poking me with his pencil or pulling on my long hair.

That day when I walked into school I was early. As I walked down the hallway, I started making my sneakers squeak on the white and gray tile floor. When I reached the classroom, The door was open, and there were only about six kids in the room. My teacher wasn't in the room. Nathan was one of the people in his desk. I shuffled over to my desk in front of him, still squeaking my sneakers. His head looked up at a particularly loud _SQUEEEEEEEK _of my shoes.

"Hello there Kelp Head. How yah doin'?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and plopped into my seat. I leaned forward and laid my head down on the desk.

"What happened to your head? Were you clumsy again and slip down the stairs? Your mommy bandage that up? You still call her mommy? I outgrew that name in preschool." He said this all very smugly and mockingly.

I managed to bite my tongue and keep my head down.

"Aaaaaaw. Are you feeling shy? Not want to admit that you're just a stupid little baby?"

When he said this, my temper flared and I whirled around. In a mature voice that no eight year old should use, I said, "Don't you go talkin' about stuff you don't know an inch about." I sent him a death glare and then plopped my head back on my desk. Nathan never spoke to me again.

The school day passed in a blur. The teacher called on me to read and the kids laughed at my attempt. The words swirled around the page and I couldn't put them together. Then we worked in two's to draw a picture that went with the story we had just read out of the reading book. I was embarrassed when the teacher had to work with me because everyone had a partner besides me. I was relieved when school was finally over and I could take a nice bus ride home.

When I stepped out the door, it was pouring down rain. Sure I like water, but after a while you get cold and wrinkly. I quickly jogged to the bus stop and waited under the canopy for the 3:15 bus. I tapped my feet and cleared my mind of my day. My mom was getting out of work early today and would probably be able to see me for about an hour before she had to leave for her night job. I walked back into the rain as the bus screeched to a stop in front of me. The driver gave me a nod. I had been on the bus everyday since school started in August and it was now March, so I usually smiled at him. He would watch me and would ask me why I wasn't there if I missed a day of school.

I walked over to the ticket machines in the middle of the bus and reached in my left pocket for my money. My hand came back empty. I checked my right pocket, thinking I might have put it there instead this morning. As I realized it wasn't in there either, I recalled the old man and me giving him my money on the bus that morning.

Nervously I walked up to the driver.

"Hey kid, somethin' wrong?" He asked, never taking his eyes off the road.

"Well er . . . I don't have any money so . . ." I trailed off and twiddled my fingers around.

"Well then I'll have to ask you to get off at the next stop," he said frowning slightly.

"OK." I mumbled and sat behind him in the first seat. When we got to the next stop, I got up and walked down the steps of the bus.

"Be careful, kid," He said and then pulled the lever that closed the hinged doors closed.

Almost immediately, I was soaked to the bone with the downpour of rain. Somewhere in the distance I saw lightning crackle, illuminating the dark sky to a purplish color. I began walking briskly towards Gabe's apartment along the barren street. Even though it was March, the wind made it feel as if it were January again.

I had never seen the streets of Manhattan so empty before. There were always hundreds of other people barreling into you. Without people, I felt very exposed and vulnerable. I turned right, taking a shortcut through an alley way and came out on the other side facing a man in a long tan trench coat that was holding a large black umbrella. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and his face was masked by a fedora and some shades even though it wasn't sunny out. There was an aura around this man that made him seem like he was a very dangerous and powerful man. It almost seemed as if he could stop time. I stopped in my tracks as he began to walk towards me. Slowly, I began to back up into the alleyway I had just came from.

"Hey little buddy. Where are your parents? You shouldn't be out here all alone." He said, tilting his head down, his sunglasses slipping down his crooked nose to reveal a glinting set of gold eyes. I shivered. They seemed to be prying into my soul, seeing my darkest secrets.

"Why don't you come with me? I'll give you some minestrone soup and hot cocoa with marshmallows to warm you up. I'm not gonna hurt you." I took another step back and hit the side of a dumpster.

"Come with me. No harm will come to-" That was all I heard, because at that moment, I whirled around and met a sight that made my claustrophobia jerk awake. There was a man who was almost as wide as the ally due to his muscles blocking my exit. I snapped my head back and saw fedora man blocking the only other way of escape. I_ shouldn't have given him my money,_ I thought as the muscular man took a few steps forward and slammed a cloth into my face. Immediately, I crumpled to the ground, and everything went black.

**AN: You like? Review please! Let me know if I should continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey guys! Thank you sooooo much for the positive feedback! I was so surprised that I went ahead and decided to post another chapter! I'd like to specially thank Daughter of Hades 14 for her advice and for being my first reviewer! I don't know how good this chapter is(I liked the first one way better) but let me know what you think and review/PM me with any ideas or constructive criticism! Happy reading!**

**Story Followers: 11**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO series or any familiar wording of anything. It belongs to Rick Riordan!**

**The Milk Carton Kids**

**Chapter 2: His Face**

**Percy POV**

When I woke up, I could hear hushed voices all around me, all talking about different things. My brain was pounding against my skull and my back was aching against the cold hard floor. Slowly, I pried my eyes open and blinked away the stars that were in them from suddenly being immersed in bright light.

When my vision cleared, I remembered my kidnapping with fedora guy and muscle man. _Where am I?_ I thought as I slowly sat up, trying not to irritate my throbbing head.

I looked around and saw that I was in a huge, concrete room with no windows. There was a steep staircase, that was also concrete, that led somewhere up above. In the room, there were dozens of other kids all sitting in corners or leaning against walls. They all had grim expressions and were talking quietly amongst themselves. Next to me, I noticed that there was a girl about my age with wide, grey eyes and blond hair curled like a princesses. Her eyes were narrowed at me. They seemed to search my sole like fedora guy, but her eyes were kinder.

"Hi," I said to grey-eyes. I was curious and wanted to know what was going on.

"Hello," she replied with a small smile. She seemed kinda lonely, like the homeless guy on the bus. "My name is Annabeth."

"I'm Percy. Where are we?"

Annabeth sighed, like she had had this conversation with too many other kids before. "In a basement. You, like everybody else here, have been unlucky enough to end up being kidnapped by psycho mother man Kronos. You got here yesterday and just woke up now."

"Oh. Psycho mother man Crumb Nose?" I asked, my eyebrows scrunched together like they always do when I'm confused.

"_Kro_nos. And yes, psycho mother man. He is psycho, and he keeps us because he likes being a 'mother.'" She replied exasperatedly. "I've gotta go. Luke will help you. Luke!"

Annabeth walked away and sat in a corner with a girl who looked like she was about fifteen with short black hair. I didn't know what I thought about Annabeth yet. She was mysterious yet kind at the same time.

"Hi! I'm Luke." I was too busy looking at Annabeth that I didn't notice an older guy about seventeen walk over and sit down next to me. He had short, blond hair and blue eyes. There was a jagged scar under his eye that looked like an animal had jumped on his face.

"I'm Percy. Why am I here? I wanna go home." For the first time in a long while, I felt like crying. Even though I was eight, I never acted my age and rarely ever cried.

"Hey there, it's okay. You'll go back home. I don't want you to be here either. If I could, I'd snap my fingers and we'd all be back at our home right now." Luke was calm and that helped me push back the unshed tears that were waiting to fall.

"How long have _you_ been here?" I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat.

"Three years," He replied bitterly, his eyes tinted a dark stormy blue. My hopes of escaping left me and I stared at my worn down sneakers. "But hey, we'll get you and everyone else out of here soon."

"Why would somebody do this? Crumb Nose is crazy!" I said loudly. I couple people looked at us and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Kronos? Well he likes to think that we're his kids, so basically yes, he is crazy." Luke said, a ghost of a smile on his lips."All the kids here are his victims. Grover, Thalia, Annabeth, and I were the first four. Over the past three years, he kidnapped everybody else here. Most people are ten and over. You're pretty young for a newbie."

"What do you do all day? Just sit here?" I questioned him. My ADHD made it hard for me to just sit around and do nothing.

"No, he gives us chores to do like cooking and cleaning. He visits us too and says that he loves us so much and would never hurt us." Luke's expression darkened again at this. "That's the weird part. Sometimes he'll give us hugs, which is kinda weird, but at other times, he is violent and will punch a kid or something like that."

I thought that this Kronos guy was like Gabe(minus the hugging). _I could deal with that,_ I thought. _I can deal with this guy for a little while then._

"What time is it?" I asked.

"7:53, " he said, looking down at a cheap bronze watch that he wore on his wrist. "He should be down any minute now to give us chores and wake us up." I looked around the room and noticed that there were some kids still sleeping on the concrete floor. "I've gotta go talk to Thalia," he said as he glanced over at the girl Annabeth had sat by. She was staring at Luke with electric eyes. He stood up, gave me a pat on the shoulder, and then walked away.

There were some people staring at me as I hugged my knees into my chest, resting my chin on top. I wished they would look away, because they all seemed to be judging me. They were all older and bigger and stronger than I was. I was only eight and had never really talked with teenagers before. I'd only talked to adults and people at my school. I tried to ignore the gazes of everybody and thought about anything but being kidnapped.

The sound of a door creaking open pulled me out of my trance. Almost immediately, every kid in the basement had gone completely silent.

I heard dress shoes clicking on the stairs as fedora guy, or Kronos now, came into my view. Today, he was in pinstriped pants and a silky blue, button-down shirt that was neatly tucked in. He wore a crooked smile on his pointed face and he wore no shades to cover his piercing gold eyes today.

"Hello my children. How are we all this morning? I am fine, thank you for asking." Kronos said this with a toothy smile. "Yesterday, I found a new child that wanted to join our family. Come on over here." He stared at me and gestured for me to stand next to him. I glanced at Luke, and he nodded his head at me with an encouraging smile. Slowly, I stood up and walked over to Crumb Nose Kronos. His nose is kinda crumby. A bit lumpy.

"Don't be shy, come on over. I never got your name."

I grumbled, "Percy Jackson," just loud enough for him to hear me.

"Ah! Percy Jackson. Perseus? That's a more proper name. Well Perseus, follow along today, and you'll soon get the hang of things around here." He pulled me into a hug, my head only reaching the hight of his stomach. I tensed and closed my eyes as he pulled me close, his hands cool through the fabric of my old shirt. As soon as he let go, I scrambled back to where I had been sitting before.

"Now, chores for today: Group A is on cleaning upstairs. Group B is on cleaning downstairs. Group C is doing laundry, which today includes getting Perseus here an outfit that fits him. Group D is cleaning the garage, keep the door down. And Group E is on cooking. Perseus will join Group B today. Annabeth dear, please help show Percy around today. Now chop, chop! Lots of love!" Kronos finally finished, his thin lips curling into a smile. He headed back upstairs.

Immediately after he left, it seemed like the whole room let out a breath of air at once. Murmuring resumed, and I walked over towards Annabeth, Luke, and electric-eyed girl. Luke and the non-Annabeth girl were arguing about something, so I just waited a few feet away, staring at Annabeth. After a minute, they seemed to notice me.

"Percy, this is Thalia, Thalia, Percy," Luke said. "I'm sorry that Kronos embarrassed you like that. He does that every time we get a new kid. We should get going." He and Thalia walked away together. Annabeth grabbed my arm and led me over to another group of kids.

"This is Group B," she said quietly to me. "You'll work with them every day. We have cleaning downstairs today, so that means that we have to wait until after breakfast to start cleaning so that we can clean the kitchen."

There were twelve other people in Group B. A couple kids smiled at me and introduced themselves.

"Hi! I'm Grover." A kid with curly hair and a goatee who looked to be about twenty said. I remembered Luke saying that Grover had been one of the first four here.

"Hello," I said, feeling a bit intimidated by his age.

Three others introduced themselves. There were Travis and Connor who were brothers, but looked so much alike that they could've been twins, who looked to be about thirteen, and then there was Katie who also was about thirteen. The four of them talked to me as if I were a younger brother, and it felt good to be comfortable around somebody here besides Annabeth and Luke. About twenty minutes later, we walked up the stairs and into the kitchen for breakfast. Kronos was sitting at a table with a plate filled with bacon, eggs, and sausages that made my mouth water. My stomach growled and I realized that I hadn't eaten since yesterday at school.

We walked to the stove, and Annabeth handed me a plastic tray with food on it. There was a piece of toast and a milk carton like they sold at my school during lunch. My stomach grumbled again as I started to shovel down my toast in the middle of the kitchen. There was no place to sit at the table, for there was only one chair and it was already occupied. In about thirty seconds, my plate and carton were devoid of any lone crumb or drip of milk. I longingly stared at the toaster as it popped up with two more slices of toast, but they weren't for me.

I turned my gaze towards the empty, slightly crumpled carton on my tray instead. Leaning my head in my hand, I absentmindedly spun the carton with my free hand. It spun halfway around, and the sight that I met made my eyes widen and Annabeth look at me with a worried expression.

**Third Person POV:**

Sally Jackson stared at the milk carton in her hand with tears rolling down her face. She read the short paragraph over and over again, her heart aching from her loss.

**MISSING BOY:**

**Perseus Jackson, age 8, has been abducted. He is 4 foot two, 53 pounds. He has jet black hair and green eyes. If found, or if you have any information, call 730-224-6766.**

Below was a picture of Percy from last year at Montauk Beach. Sally's own face had been cropped out and you could see her fingertips on his shoulder, holding him in a protective manner.

Sally stared at the face on the milk carton, whimpering, "Percy, oh my poor baby. Percy . . ."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello! Sorry for the wait. I had Band Camp for two weeks with a one week break in between that I used to spend sleeping. This chapter is short and I don't like it very much but... yeah. It's basically a filler chapter. I'll try to get a set update day figured out but I start high school a week from Tuesday and I'm in all honors and Color Guard so it might not be too often. Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism and ideas are welcome! Just review or PM me. Replies to reviews are below! Thanks!**

* * *

**Sally POV:**

The week after Percy went missing, I felt like a water fountain was continuously following me. Sometimes it was cold and felt good to just let my tears pour out. Other times it felt like the fountain was constantly splashing me with water and that the pain and tears would never leave me and that I would be barraged with sorrow and depression to infinity and beyond.

Percy had been my life and the reason that I got up every morning. His little joyful smile and the way he gave me hugs and kisses when he left for school motivated me to ignore Gabe and my failures so that I had an actual purpose in life- to keep Percy happy and give him a good life.

But I had failed. He had been taken by some perverted kidnapper that enjoyed ruining the childhood of kids. He had had to deal with an abusive stepfather that felt no love for him. He had been forced to live in conditions almost unsuitable for life. And now he was in pain and had nobody there to comfort him.

Everyday as I walked to work, this was what ran through my head. The pain I felt that week was almost too much for me to bear. Every second I felt like running to the highest tower I could find in Manhattan and just leap off. It would be so easy to just end this. Quick and painless. Soon after though, I realized that this wouldn't help Percy in the slightest way and that this was a selfish thought.

The Thursday after I lost my sweet baby, I was walking 'home' from a fourteen hour shift at work. I had been asked to work late because my friend Grace had to go to a wedding tonight. As I walked, a lock of my messy dark brown hair fell in front of my shining blue eyes. Aggressively, I shoved it behind my ear as tears began to once again swim in my eyes and leak with the force of a dam breaking.

A loud whining screech escaped my lips as a forcefully plopped down right on the end of the sidewalk, my feet sticking into the street. I plopped my head down in my hands and cried for Percy.

_I should've been there for him! I should've kept him safe! I'm his mother for Pete's sake! It's my own fault he has to walk home from school._

Sometimes I blamed myself, while other times I didn't.

"Why did you leave us! This wouldn't have happened if you had been there!" I screamed and screamed at passing cars and people. I received a lot of dirty looks.

"I don't know what to do." I muttered.

I feel like an idiot now. Of course no mythological force was going to come and take away my pain and bring me back my Percy and my Poseidon.

Poseidon was Percy's biological father. He was a rich business man that owned his own shrimping company. One day, he was going on one of his shrimping boats to shoot a commercial for the company and he never came back. I was left alone midway through my pregnancy with no house, no money, and no husband. I'd dreamed of him magically coming back for eight years at this point, but nothing had ever been found. The boat just disappeared.

Eventually I found Gabe who was single and had an apartment. I flirted with him for a couple months until he proposed and we married. Mine and Percy's lives had been horrible with him though and I never had the guts to divorce hime because then we'd really have no place to go. We'd be on the streets as beggars. The only thing we'd have is each other.

As I sat there, I begged and screamed for the only man who I had ever truly loved to help me find my Percy, even if I had never found the man I loved. Poseidon was dead. It was as simple as that, but I have never been able to accept this fact.

For hours I sat on the sidewalk and cried hysterically, feeling bad for myself. Eventually, I picked up my phone and dialed my friend Dones Falses who I had been friends with since grade school.

"Hey Dones *sniff* it's Sally *sniff*. I wast just wondering *hiccup* if I could stay at your place for a while *sniff*. Me and *cough* Gabe aren't getting along too well right now *hiccup*."

"Yeah sure, come on over whenever."

"Okay *sniff* thanks. I'll be over soon *cough*."

I turned off my phone and heaved myself to my feet and began to search for a taxi that would be willing to take my disheveled self to Dones's house for a while.

**Police Officer's POV:**

**(AN: This is the day of Percy's kidnapping)**

Ben Simp gave a big sigh as he drove home after his long shift. They'd gotten a call from a distressed mother who said that her son had been kidnapped today. She'd come into the station in hysteria. Mascara running down her face and her hair frizzy and soaked from the rain. Ben had grieved with her and given her the most comforting words that he could muster.

The little boy's name was Percy Jackson. He was eight years old with black hair and green eyes. Ben smiled to himself, thinking that the little boy must have been adorable. No, _is_ adorable.

Soon, he and Sally(Percy's mom) had driven along the route that Percy would've taken home that day. There was nothing noticeable along the way, and Ben felt appalled that he couldn't completely condole the frenzied lady.

Eventually, he had convinced her that they would do whatever humanly possible to find her son and she had been on her way with a styrofoam cup of cold coffee. She had placed all her hope on Ben to find her son.

* * *

Once home at his three story brick traditional house, Ben Simp was greeted with a kiss from his wife Donna and a hug from his eight year old daughter Nina.

"Hey kiddo, how was your day?" He smiled as he knelt down to be level with Nina. He blanked out as she babbled on about playing tag with the next door neighbor, Vinnie.

After Nina was in bed, he and Donna sunk into their couch in the family room.

"Tough day at work?" Donna questioned

"Yeah, a woman called today. Her son was kidnapped. He's eight just like Nina."

Donna gasped, her slender hands covering her gaping mouth. "That's horrible! Imagine if it _was_ Nina. Oh I don't know what I'd do! The poor lady."

"I know. It makes danger seem so real when you can relate to what the person must be feeling."

"Oh well. I guess we just have to live with it. It's not like it's our kid, right?"

* * *

About a month later, Ben was ready to give up on finding Percy. There were no clues and no witnesses. The only lead they had was the bus drivers account that Percy didn't have enough money so he had been forced to walk home.

Donna had already completely forgotten about Percy. The only thing that truly mattered to her was that her daughter was safe and sound and had not been the unfortunate kidnapped eight year old.

* * *

**AN: Review Replies!**

**Lunette Tala: Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this one too!**

**MunicoNinja11: Thank you! Here's your update. Hope you enjoyed!**

**theteen: why thank you!**

**Guest: Thanks for reviewing! I plan on finishing this story!**

**Guest: Haha! Next chapter will have more content!**

**ThaliaJoelle: I will try! :)**

**HackedByAWriter: Thanks so much! I know Kronos is OOC, that was my intention with that. I'm honored that you like my writing so much! Your review REALLY made me want to update more! (:**

**That's all folks! Please review!**


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